Markham's 1,571 part-time staff temporarily laid off won't be back any time soon

City 'not there yet' despite province loosening the reins on reopening of the economy, says Mayor Scarpitti

Yorkregion.com
May 21, 2020

As the province begins to reopen the economy, there will be no change to the current level of service at the City of Markham as of May 19.

"We're not there yet," Mayor Frank Scarpitti said, adding the city is currently reviewing the permissions granted by the province under the first stage of the Ford government’s reopening framework and evaluating the implications for Markham.

"I welcome the incremental approach to reopening the economy and we appreciate the permissions given to municipalities to make their own decisions -- but there will be no change to the services provided by the City of Markham."

While essential services continue to operate, facility closures remain in effect under an extended state of emergency until May 29, which largely impacts the city's part-time staff at community centres, libraries, the Markham Museum, Flato Markham Theatre and the Valley Art Gallery.

Of the city's 1,788 part-time workforce, 1,571 --or 88 per cent --have been temporarily laid off.

"We continue to monitor the situation closely and hope to have staff return to work as soon as possible when conditions permit, and our ability to offer programming resumes," a city spokesperson said, adding the municipality is working hard to maintain services to the community, and will continue to do so, while also managing the financial impacts of the pandemic on the organization.

Recruitment was also put on ice, with only positions deemed "the most essential" being filled.

With 987 full-time staff, the city also redeployed 90 people, mainly from shuttered facilities, to parks and roads operations, while foregoing hiring seasonal staff and summer students.

Scarpitti said a rush to reopen limited public services, or private businesses, should not be at the expense of community safety.

While retail stores with street-front entrances, golf courses and construction sites can now open, the onus is on them to ensure they are ready and prepared to protect the public and their employees, and that includes having proper distancing protocols and protective equipment in place, Scarpitti said.

"We all have a shared responsibility to avoid another surge of COVID-19 cases. We managed to avoid the original forecasted hit to hospitals, but if we loosen the reins too fast, we risk seeing that capacity put to the test. Our collective efforts have made a difference and we are headed in the right direction, but this is not the time to let our guard down."

While Markham's long-term care facilities and group homes have been particularly hard hit in terms of COVID-19 cases, fatalities, and ICU patients, many have now been declared outbreak-free, including Markhaven Home for Seniors.

The municipality also has the lowest percentage of community spread among large municipalities in York Region, the City of Toronto and the provincial average.

When you combine public health statistics regarding cases due to close contact and local transmission, Markham's percentage of cases in the region sits at 48 per cent, compared to 61 per cent in both Vaughan and Richmond Hill, as of last week.

Vaughan, Markham's closest neighbour in terms of population and density, has almost double the cases, including significant workplace outbreaks.

While Scarpitti said each municipality has its own set of variables, everyone in the region is to be applauded for avoiding the expected surge and hit to the area's three hospitals. But he credited the collective, and early, efforts in Markham as a main contributing factor to avoiding "catastrophic numbers" to date.

Markham residents have been very disciplined in their approach to physically distancing measures with few violating provincial orders regarding public spaces and gatherings, Scarpitti said.

He added private businesses deemed essential services, such as grocery stores, were also proactive in implementing measures to keep both workers and customers safe. That included T&T Supermarket being among the first to implement temperature checks and mask requirements for entry.

Markham's Chinese-Canadian community was also quick to don protective masks, while also self-isolating after travel, as precautionary measures as early as January, despite criticism from some and repeated assurances from public health officials in February that the risk remained low in the region and advising against the use of masks in the general public as an effective tool to prevent the spread of infection.

Scarpitti thanked the collective community effort, but cautioned against taking signs of progress for granted.

"They serve as a reminder that any reopening of the economy must be done in a thoughtful, measured, data-based approach with close monitoring and tracking to prevent a second surge in cases. We want that success to continue. We want to maintain our position. We want to keep moving forward safely toward a complete recovery, without any major setbacks."